1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an electronic device, and particularly to an electronic device that has a sliding cap to protect a terminal section.
2. Related Art
With the recent advance of technology electronic devices can provide more diversified functions. Data storage and processing power have also increased greatly. And, their size is gradually reduced and their price is lower.
Many types of electronic devices have been developed to meet different user requirements, such as desktop computers used by enterprises or people for business operation or entertainment, and notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smart phones and the like, developed to enhance portability.
Software related to the operation of the electronic devices has also made great progress to meet the requirements of the rapid increase of data volume. The floppy disk previously used can no longer meet user's demands. The optical disk with a greater capacity was subsequently developed. But the optical disk cannot be written repeatedly. Hence, despite its high storage capacity, its capability is still not satisfactory.
These days a novel electronic device called a portable storage device has been developed to overcome the aforesaid problems. It is compact and easy to carry. It has a great capacity and can be written repeatedly. Users can directly insert it into a notebook computer, desktop computer or the like to transmit data. While such memory devices were once expensive and not widely used, with the advance of semiconductor manufacturing processes, these electronic devices are inexpensive now. Hence they have almost become a standard accessory of businesses or ordinary people.
Production techniques of the portable storage device are known in the art. Reference can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,534 (abbreviated in No. 534 hereinafter), U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,634 (No. 634), U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,329 (No. 329) and 6,763,410 (No. 410).
No. 534 discloses a pen-type portable memory device that has a cap member to couple with one end thereof to cover a terminal portion and provide protection. Nos. 634 and 410 also offer similar designs. No. 410 provides an alteration for the cap member, such as to couple the cap member with the portable storage device on one side through a connector. When the cap member is separated from the portable storage device, the cap member can still be attached to the portable storage device through the connector. With No. 329, in addition to providing a cap member to protect the terminal portion, the terminal portion can also be unplugged and replaced to suit connection ports of varying specifications.
Asides from the cap member to protect the terminal portion, there are also other designs. For instance, the terminal portion may be embedded inside the electronic device, and be extended outside the electronic device by pushing a button when in use. Such a design is often used in MP3 players or the like, such as the MP3 player model No. FY-400 produced by MPIO Co. Ltd. (Korea).